With news about 2026 Pittsburgh New Works Festival, Discounted PSO Student Ticket Program, the power of Les Miz, David Toole, Breakthrough Sessions at Pittsburgh Playhouse, and more.

🎭 ICYMI:

• Preview: ‘Rent’ at Greer Cabaret Brings Peter Matthew Smith Back to Pittsburgh
• Preview: New Pittsburgh Company With Familiar Faces Brings ‘Assassins’ Musical to Greer
• Review: Front Porch ‘Come From Away’ Pulsates With Neighborly Heart and Soul 
• Review: South Park Theatre Nails the Comedy of ‘Boeing Boeing’
• Review: Five Bodies, One Staircase: Jonathan González’s ‘The Strikebreakers’ at Carnegie Museum of Art
• Review: Little Lake’s ‘Ms. Holmes and Ms. Watson – Apt. 2B’ Keeps Audiences Laughing and Guessing

2026 PITTSBURGH NEW WORKS FESTIVAL

The 36th annual Pittsburgh New Works Festival arrives August 27 and runs weekends through September 20, 2026, at Genesius Theater at Duquesne University. PNWF “is dedicated to fostering the development of original one-act plays,” with chosen entries produced by regional theater companies during the festival. The plays were selected from more than 200 submissions in an anonymous selection process. Plays were received from across the U.S. and seven other countries, including Canada, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and the United Kingdom.

2026 PITTSBURGH NEW WORKS FESTIVAL SCHEDULE

Program A, August 27-30

• It’s About Time, by Kathryn Ryan of Bronx, N.Y., produced by the Haunted Theatre Company
• The Art of Leaving, by Richard Gotti of Delmar, N.Y., produced by the South Hills Players
• The Harrowing of Hell, by Jeff DeSantis of Baden, PA, produced by McKeesport Little Theater

Program B, September 3 – 6

• The First Five Minutes, by Dale Hess and Katelyn Donnelly of Pittsburgh, produced by Iron Horse
• Undiscovered Country, by Dana Leslie Goldstein of Brooklyn, N.Y., produced by the Community Players of Ben Avon
• Ruth is Dead, by Donnie Buckingham of Swissvale, PA, produced by The Heritage Players

Program C, September 10 – 13

• Holy Smoke, by Brandy Victoria of Silver Spring, MD, produced by Play on Words
• The Great Anderton Snowfall Debacle of 2025, by Lisa Feriend of Singapore, produced by Prime Stage
• Waiting to Film Waiting for Godot, by Mathew Green of Champaign, Ill., produced by Stray Cat

Program D, September 17 – 20

• Delayed Blitz, by Grant Mitchell of Greenwich, Conn, produced by The Summer Company
• Are You Okay?, by Geo Lawton of Coraopolis, PA, produced by the Red Masquers
• Death Becomes a Writer, by J.B. Heaps of New York, N.Y., produced by R-ACT

TICKETS AND DETAILS: Festival pass is $60; $17 in advance and $20 at the door ($15 with student ID) for individual programs. https://pittsburghnewworks.org/

Manfred Honeck Makes a Student’s First Pittsburgh Symphony Ticket Free

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (PSO) announced that Music Director Manfred Honeck is giving every new student who registers for PSO Go their first concert ticket free. After that first visit, all student tickets are $15. The initiative is Honeck’s first since extending his contract through the 2032–33 season. The renewal will bring his tenure to 25 years, making him the longest-serving Music Director in the PSO’s 131-year history. He has led the orchestra since 2008.

PSO Go is free to join and offers discounted tickets throughout the season. Honeck’s new benefit eliminates the cost of a student’s first visit to Heinz Hall.

“When I re-signed my contract as Music Director of the Pittsburgh Symphony,” Honeck said, “I thought carefully about a special initiative, and decided that getting students to come to programs was of utmost importance. A young person who has never heard an orchestra live cannot know yet whether this music is for them. My hope is to help them simply walk through the door. If the price of that first ticket is what stands in the way, then let it be my gift, and I will let our music do the rest.”

🎟️ TICKETS AND DETAILS: PSO Go is the Pittsburgh Symphony’s student ticket program, presented by S&T Bank. Registration is free, takes under a minute, and is open to full-time students of any age. 

NY TIMES: ‘LES MIZ,’ WITH PITTSBURGH STAR, LIFTS UTAH SUMMER STOCK

A recent New York Times story headlined “Can You Hear the Theaters Ka-Ching? A Battered Industry Turns to ‘Les Miz,’ “ highlights the Les Misérables that stretches from May into October at Tuacahn Center for the Arts‘ outdoor amphitheater, with Pittsburgh’s David Toole as Jean Valjean. With the end of a national tour, licensing for the show was re-released in July 2026 after a nearly 10-year restriction. The Times uses the production at Tuacahn, Utah’s largest nonprofit theater, to posit that the astounding popularity of Les Misérables can be a savior for regional theaters that specialize in Broadway musicals, reporting that the show “is tracking to be the highest-grossing in Tuacahn’s 31-year history.” Toole, whose powerful vocals were frequently heard on musical theater stages in Pittsburgh, previously was heard as The Count of Monte Cristo in the red rock cliffs that surround Tuacahn.

THE NEXT ROLE MODEL FROM POINT PARK U? *

BREAKTHROUGH SESSIONS: TOMORROW’S MUSIC TODAY is a new concert series at Pittsburgh Playhouse at Point Park University, presented by Point Park’s student-led record label to showcase “emerging and breakthrough artists.” For Breakthrough Sessions, the Playhosue transform the Highmark Theatre into an intimate venue where artists can share new work, tell the stories behind their music, and connect directly with audiences. On August 20, featured performers will be ALLISSA, Ava Presley, Alexis Zak, Willard Hurley, and Leandro.

🎟️ TICKETS AND DETAILS: https://playhouse.pointpark.edu/shows-events/community-features/breakthrough-sessions/an-evening-with-pioneer-records

* “Sally, When the Wine Runs Out” singer Role Model (previously Dillis, nee Tucker Pillsbury) studied film at Point Park University in Pittsburgh. “I wouldn’t be into music if I didn’t come to Point Park,” he told the university’s Globe in 2016. “It was the people I met. We used to go down to the wharf, me and a couple of friends, and freestyle. They wanted to record, so just meeting those people from Point Park kind of changed my life.” Role Model will perform at Citizens Live at The Wylie on October 1, 2026, as part of his “Chuck On Tour.”

🎟️ Reminder: The discount ticket initiative Go See a Show! is ongoing, with 18 performing arts companies and Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama participating. Find tickets at https://www.goseeashowpgh.com.

👉 Don’t forget — you can always explore the next two months of performances, organized by date or company, at onStage Pittsburgh.

👉 Did we miss your show? Send us your updates at info@onstagepittsburgh.com so we can share them in Listings and a future Call Board.

Categories: CALL BOARD, Our Posts

Tags: 2026, David Toole, Les Misérables, Les Miz, Pittsburgh New Works Festival, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Theater, PSO GO